It's not oficially fall yet, but here in Southern California it might as well be. Around here, fall begins when the tourists go home and the heat breaks. From what I hear, I spent one of the hottest days of the summer, Labor Day, in the hospital and I should thank my lucky stars for that. Everyone kept telling me how miserable it was outside. When we took Micah home the next day it was a little cooler, and by the end of the week it felt positively fall-ish outside. And it's been like that since, just a little warmer on some days. The evenings are even a little cool.
But here's the real proof of fall: we went to Ruby's on the Balboa Pier for lunch today and there was hardly anyone there. Yes! I love it when school starts and everyone goes back to the midwest or wherever they came from and we can reclaim the beach. The weather was perfect, just a little breezy and sunny and clear, and the ocean was pretty calm. We sat at a table near the open door while we ate. It was Micah's first trip to Ruby's! He slept through the whole thing in his carseat, propped up by the window with the sun on his toes. The rest of us ate delicious food and played with Judah's menu, which was in the shape of a vintage Corvette. After lunch Nathan took Judah to the playground to play on the slide for a while, and then we headed home. It was so nice and relaxing and quiet. The beach is definitely the best in the fall.
9.13.2007
9.05.2007
Presenting
Micah Kenneth Cowell was born on September 3 at 12:56 am. He weighed 6 lbs 10 ozs and was 19.5 inches long.
I guess he thought it would be funny to come on Labor Day.
Micah's doing really well, and the rest of us are too, so far. Nathan and I are really tired... but I guess that's what you expect. Judah's doing great and loves his new baby brother and is very gentle and caring with him. He celebrated by wandering out the front door of our condo yesterday evening when no one was looking and taking a walk around the complex. We sent out a little search party and found him before he got too far, fortunately. Then he was awesome and went to bed after getting up only once, and actually slept until 6:45 this morning. It was wonderful.
More pictures and updates later, it's feeding time again and Judah's begging to watch a funny cats video on You Tube. Ha!
9.01.2007
Waving goodbye to my sanity.....again....
I thought I would at least have until the baby was born before I started existing in a fog for a while again. But that's turned out not to be the case. Judah is totally putting us through it right now.
The sleep issues seem to be never ending. I've talked to my friends. Most of them are like, "No, we didn't really have any problems switching to a bed. We had to spank him a few times and then he got the picture and has stayed in bed ever since." I've heard of only two other kids that are as strong willed as Judah in this area, and in both cases their parents ended up locking their child's bedroom door from the outside and letting the kid cry for hours until they're exhausted and fall asleep on the floor. This sounds totally cruel, I know, but I also know that to some kids (Judah) there is simply nothing else that makes sense. Rewards don't matter, punishment doesn't matter, the loss of privileges doesn't matter, pain doesn't matter. The only thing that seems to matter to him is total separation from us. Any attention at all, even us standing silently in the doorway and pointing to the bed until he climbs back in, is enough to make him get up for more. So I'm almost at the door locking point.
That being said, he's improved a lot from the nights he was getting up 65 times in a row. He usually goes down now pretty easily for Nathan, only getting up three or four times, but he won't really do it for me. Naptimes are a battle when Nathan's not home. But the real kicker is the morning wake-up time. For whatever reason, since he's moved to a bed, Judah is up at 5:15 every morning without fail. And won't go back to sleep. Before, when he was in the crib, his normal time was between 7:30 and 8. Then for a little bit after the great move it was about 6:30 or 6:45 and I complained and whined. And now I'd give years off my life to have him sleep until 6:30. 5:15 is a hideous time to be awake. And then there was last night, when he woke up at 3:50 and never went back to sleep at all.
Do you know what it does to a parent's mind to start the day, against your will, before 4 am? I spent the day fighting a series of nervous breakdowns. There's a reason prisoners of war are sometimes tortured with sleep deprivation. It will totally break you.
And now Judah has croup. Croup. Seriously. I thought that went out with the 1800s. At least now I know why he was up so early this morning. He's got a high fever and a barking cough and a sore throat, poor little guy. It's truly pathetic. He actually consented to sit still on my lap for like ten minutes this afternoon. He was so worn out. Tonight when we put him to bed he was literally begging for sleep. For the first time in weeks, maybe months, we put him down, left the room, and haven't heard from him since. I'm hoping this sickness is a blessing in disguise that will re-set his sleeping habits, back to something a little more acceptable to everyone.
So, anyone out there have any suggestions? Did your kids do this? Know any kids that did? Is there any hope that I'll stop being perpetually tired in the next five years?
The sleep issues seem to be never ending. I've talked to my friends. Most of them are like, "No, we didn't really have any problems switching to a bed. We had to spank him a few times and then he got the picture and has stayed in bed ever since." I've heard of only two other kids that are as strong willed as Judah in this area, and in both cases their parents ended up locking their child's bedroom door from the outside and letting the kid cry for hours until they're exhausted and fall asleep on the floor. This sounds totally cruel, I know, but I also know that to some kids (Judah) there is simply nothing else that makes sense. Rewards don't matter, punishment doesn't matter, the loss of privileges doesn't matter, pain doesn't matter. The only thing that seems to matter to him is total separation from us. Any attention at all, even us standing silently in the doorway and pointing to the bed until he climbs back in, is enough to make him get up for more. So I'm almost at the door locking point.
That being said, he's improved a lot from the nights he was getting up 65 times in a row. He usually goes down now pretty easily for Nathan, only getting up three or four times, but he won't really do it for me. Naptimes are a battle when Nathan's not home. But the real kicker is the morning wake-up time. For whatever reason, since he's moved to a bed, Judah is up at 5:15 every morning without fail. And won't go back to sleep. Before, when he was in the crib, his normal time was between 7:30 and 8. Then for a little bit after the great move it was about 6:30 or 6:45 and I complained and whined. And now I'd give years off my life to have him sleep until 6:30. 5:15 is a hideous time to be awake. And then there was last night, when he woke up at 3:50 and never went back to sleep at all.
Do you know what it does to a parent's mind to start the day, against your will, before 4 am? I spent the day fighting a series of nervous breakdowns. There's a reason prisoners of war are sometimes tortured with sleep deprivation. It will totally break you.
And now Judah has croup. Croup. Seriously. I thought that went out with the 1800s. At least now I know why he was up so early this morning. He's got a high fever and a barking cough and a sore throat, poor little guy. It's truly pathetic. He actually consented to sit still on my lap for like ten minutes this afternoon. He was so worn out. Tonight when we put him to bed he was literally begging for sleep. For the first time in weeks, maybe months, we put him down, left the room, and haven't heard from him since. I'm hoping this sickness is a blessing in disguise that will re-set his sleeping habits, back to something a little more acceptable to everyone.
So, anyone out there have any suggestions? Did your kids do this? Know any kids that did? Is there any hope that I'll stop being perpetually tired in the next five years?
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